Following the surprising second-place showing of ultra-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in Sunday's presidential qualifying round in France, Interior Minister Eli Yishai called on French Jews to "start packing their bags" and move to Israel. An official close to Le Pen denied that he was an anti-Semite, and instead insisted that he was actually an ardent supporter of Israel.

Yishai, whose Shas party represents Israel's Sephardic Jewry, including many French Jews, spent much time Monday calling leaders of the Jewish community in France and telling them that they should not remain apathetic in the wake of the rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

According to media reports, the Jewish Agency is preparing for an increase in the number of French Jews making Aliyah and moving to Israel. Agency officials are planning for some 2,500 new immigrants from France this year, despite the security situation in Israel. The number would mark a 100% increase over French Aliyah figures in 2001.

"For us, the success of the Fascist leader Le Pen is a catastrophe," said Roger Cukierman, president of CRIF, the umbrella group of secular French Jewish organizations. Cukierman, who was attending an emergency session of the World Jewish Congress in Brussels to discuss European anti-Semitism, added, "Among Jews there are great fears and an atmosphere of concern over the rise of the fascist right and the extremist left. We hope that in the upcoming elections these results won't be repeated."

Cukierman told Maariv that it was too soon to talk about Jews leaving France. "I didn't hear about anyone leaving. I also hope that all the people who voted for Le Pen are not anti-Semites. I just assume that a good part of them voted to protest the deterioration of the level of their personal safety in France."

Israeli media reports suggested that some French Jews might have secretly voted for Le Pen in the first round of the French presidential ballot, due to the candidate's strong stance against Muslim immigrants in the country.

"There are Jews who voted for Le Pen, and they did it on the same grounds as any other Frenchman who is afraid of being robbed, of being mugged," said Emmanuel Weintraub, spokesman for the Representative Council of French Jewish Groups in Paris.

Cukierman denied reports in Ha'aretz suggesting that Le Pen's strong showing was a message to French Muslims telling them to calm down. "[French Jews] and Arabs are on the same boat. Le Pen is anti-Jewish and anti-Arab," he said.

According to Sonia Arrouas, Le Pen's unofficial adviser on Jewish affairs, "Le Pen is pro-Israel and believes it is the only Western state in the Arab East and this is why Israel's security and existence is important to him." In an interview with Ha'aretz, Arrouas said that in her opinion, "Le Pen is not an anti-Semite."

"It's true that years ago, he expressed views that had an anti-Semitic tone to them, but that was long ago, and since then, he has changed his view," she said.

"I am not perfect," Le Pen recently said, when asked about his history of anti-Semitic comments. Some observers have debated whether "xenophobe" (fear of people of foreign origin) or "anti-Semite" is the correct term for describing him, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

© 2001-2002 Koret Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.